It’s a two-man race for MVP at this point, and the race may have tightened significantly in Week 13. Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford are the only remaining legitimate candidates with a shot a the award, and the race may have tilted back to the New England Patriots QB with last week’s results.

Drake Maye might have an edge in MVP race over Matthew Stafford

For weeks, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford were at the top of the MVP ladder. There wasn’t a clear favorite for a long time. Then, Stafford started putting together a historic streak of touchdowns without interceptions, and Maye started having more pedestrian (but still good) outings against bad defenses.

Maye missed his chance to really take the lead in the race with a soft schedule of defenses, and Stafford started really playing well. Still, even heading into Week 13, the gap between Maye and Stafford was not significant. Now, it might as well not even exist.

Once again, Maye had a solid but not awe-inspiring outing against a bad New York Giants defense. However, it got the Patriots to 11 wins, the most in the NFL. Even though the stats don’t jump off the page week after week, they are remarkably consistent, and that has helped Maye maintain his MVP case. The Patriots have the best record, and Maye is the most important piece of that.

Stafford, on the other hand, had that same argument until Week 13. Yes, he has elite offensive coaching and a boatload of top-tier weapons to play with, but the Los Angeles Rams looked like the NFL’s best team, and they had a QB with an unfathomable TD-INT ratio.

But things can change quickly in the NFL. Stafford was hit with a shocking reality check in Week 13. Facing a very susceptible Carolina Panthers defense, Stafford had one of his worst games all year.

Without starting safety Tre’von Moehrig and potential All-Pro cornerback Jaycee Horn (not to mention Corey Thornton for depth), Stafford could not really pick on this Panthers defense. They had plenty of big plays, but Stafford’s turnovers came back to bite him.

He was intercepted in the end zone on the second drive of the game thanks to a Derrick Brown deflection. The Panthers punted, but then Stafford threw his second interception in the first quarter that was returned for a touchdown.

By halftime, Stafford had two touchdowns and the two picks, so it looked like he might be able to put together a good performance after starting with those bad turnovers. But he didn’t record another touchdown. Kyren Williams did, but that doesn’t help Stafford. And when it mattered most, Brown strip-sacked Stafford with a chance to tie the game, and he never got the ball back.

Losses don’t matter much to the MVP race, especially when Stafford only has three all year long. But the fact that he couldn’t beat a reeling Panthers team and turned the ball over three times will absolutely harm his case for the time being.

Combine that with Maye’s continued strong play, and it’s easy to see why they’re both very deserving of the award. With five weeks left, things could get very interesting as both are at or near the top of most passing categories, and they both have teams with excellent records that could be tops in their conferences. Maye has a bye week upcoming, and Stafford has all five games left on the schedule, so things can and will change by this time next week, assuming Stafford does bounce back. But by the time Week 18 rolls around, this may still be a historically tight MVP race.

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